About Becky Gaconnet Expertise I can address any question about establishing rapport with high school kids, managing behavior, and designing activities and curriculum for varying ability levels. Also I am knowledgeable about registration and administration of SAT, PSAT, and ACT.
Experience I have taught in public schools for 27 years, but still feel young because I like what I do. I have taught all areas of English language arts at remedial, regular, and AP levels; speech communication; and ACT/SAT prep. While I firmly believe my job is to push kids to achieve more than they want to, I also believe it is possible to make students work hard but still have them love your class, no matter the ability level. I have served as a test center supervisor for ACT and SAT.
Awards and Honors Co-chair English Department
Three time district secondary Teacher of the Year nominee
Expert: Becky Gaconnet Date: 10/20/2006 Subject: high school students and principal
Question Today I subbed at a high school in NY that is considered very rough and in trouble. They have had to bring in some security guards and the principal there is brand new as of this year as the one from last year transferred to an elementary school! And I can't blame her! Anyway, within minutes of walking into the classroom someone asked to go to the bathroom. I had not even put my belongings down on my desk and there was another teacher in the room talking to me telling me what the lesson plans were.
I got cursed at (fuck you, go to hell, fat ass and then some). I called for backup and backup came. Backup (an admisitrator) stayed with the class and I went down to speak to the principal to let her know that I would not be able to stay in that class with that kind of abuse. She went down to speak to the class and then I went back in and everything was fine.
What concerns me is that she didn't do some digging around to find out WHO had said the cursing, the verbal abuse (fuck you, fat ass, etc.). I think just going in and getting the students to calm down was not enough! There should be consequences for that kind of verbal abuse.
I don't have a question but I am really angry and was wondering who is normally over principals? Should I complain about this to someone?
Thank you, Roy
Answer I am sorry to have taken so long to reply.
So much in a school atmosphere does depend on the leadership. If principals are known to be strong, no-nonsense leaders, a threat of calling in a principal carries a lot of weight.
As to why the principal would not dig around to find the perpetrator, I can't say for certain. However, at times it is unproductive. Certainly if there was very direct verbal abuse, I would think a perpetrator should be identified! In my own classroom, I would probably put some sanction on the entire group until someone confessed or pointed a finger. I tell them that there's no way I believe that no one can tell me who was guilty, so we will all suffer until I have an answer.
Now, while I say that, I must also say that I seldom have need to put something like that in action. The one area of classroom management that sometimes leads to that with me is, believe it or not, control of the thermostat! Kids want to mess with it, which leads to its not functioning at all for a while. So I just tell them that the entire group will lose exam exemptions if it happens again, because I refuse to believe that no one knows who did it. Therefore, more than one person is guilty of lacking character! That typically gets them to leave my thermostat alone!
So I guess, going in a circle here, that consequences for the kids' beyond rude behavior would have been appropriate. But the MOST important thing is that, whatever the kids were told, it worked and you did not have the same problem the rest of the day.
Best of luck, and thanks for taking on that really difficult job of being the substitute!
